Trucks of this kind are especially convenient for use in the bottling industry in which boxes are transported containing beverage bottles. When the lateral walls are opened outwards, the boxes containing empty beverage bottles, which are preferably stacked on pallets, are off-loaded and other boxes containing full bottles, also stacked preferably on pallets, are on-loaded.
The arrangement of lateral wall portions which can be swung upwards or downwards, has the advantage that, by virtue of the operating means connecting the lateral wall portions, the entire side of the vehicle can be completely exposed through a manual control. By means of the compensatory operating connection between the upward and downward povoting members of the lateral walls, the weight-load of these members is reduced whereby the opening and closing operations require little effort.
An arrangement in which the upper lateral wall portions and the roof portions project upwards in the open position may offer difficulties in the case of loading ramps with restricted overhead accommodation. This problem, however, is overcome through the present invention which provides an arrangement in which an upper lateral wall portion and its associated roof portion are folded flat together during the upwards swing in order to come to rest in a flat folded condition upon the vehicle roof.